There, there's the start of the rehab

From the PuffHo

As predicted back in July, Marco Rubio, sensing his fortunes dwindle rapidly, backs off his own bill.

Ted Cruz might be more unpopular than he was with the people he was unpopular to start with, but he has definitely leapt ahead of Marco Rubio in the 2016 primary sweepstakes.

Rand Paul is not too far behind with his chances, so that leaves Rubio in their wake. Hence this transparent ploy. Eager not to look like McConnell who filibustered his own bill, he is calling this effort simply as scaling back:

"The point is that at this time, the only approach that has a realistic chance of success is to focus on those aspects of reform on which there is consensus through a series of individual bills," Alex Conant, a top spokesman for Rubio, told TPM in an email. "Otherwise, this latest effort to make progress on immigration will meet the same fate as previous efforts: failure."

Yeah, we wouldn't want a solution to be extensive, the shock of success might cause untold damage. Will the mainstream media call out Marco Rubio's poor foresight where he could not see this happening just a few months ago?

Don't be silly, they'll be busy trying to find balance.